New executive will execute go-to-market strategy by unlocking growth in strategic accounts

NEW YORK (Oct. 11, 2018) — Acertitude, the executive search firm unleashing human potential globally, has recruited data center veteran David Haskell as executive vice president of strategic sales for Flexential, a leading provider of hybrid IT solutions owned by private investment firm GI Partners. Haskell reports directly to chief revenue officer, Patrick Doherty.

“David is a fantastic addition to our team as we continue scaling our solutions for large wholesale colocation and connectivity deployments,” said Doherty. “Acertitude was truly a partner to us throughout the selection process. The team remained highly engaged, targeted, and thorough in their research and vetting, bringing forth a winner in David.”

Haskell will execute on Flexential’s go-to-market plan by driving deployments across 14 major markets to support customers with commitments from 250kW to more than 10 MW. The company launched its new go-to-market strategy in January when ViaWest and Peak 10 combined and rebranded as Flexential. The rebranding followed Peak 10’s $1.67 billion acquisition of ViaWest the preceding June. The deal was the fourth-largest acquisition in the data center provider market in 2017 — a record M&A year in the space.

Haskell joins Flexential as a 20-year data center veteran. He spent the past seven years at data center provider RagingWire, where he was an integral part of the senior team that more than doubled the company. As vice president of enterprise sales, he led a team that ran all accounts, including large enterprises and hyperscale companies. Before RagingWire, Haskell held sales leadership roles with Latisys, Equinix, and CenturyLink.

Acertitude Managing Partner Rick DeRose and Partner Marci Nigro directed the executive search, advising Doherty and Karin Davies, SVP, human resources at Flexential. Speed of execution was paramount due to the opportunity cost of the vacant senior sales role. The team delivered. Haskell was identified in 22 days and the entire search was driven to a close in 81 days.

“David checked all the right boxes,” said DeRose. “He displays the same customer-first approach and passion for results that underpins the Flexential way of doing things. His experience in building top performing sales teams and driving revenue growth within the data center and IT infrastructure space made him stand out, too.”

DeRose added, “Advising Flexential has been a great experience. There is nothing we enjoy and excel at more than finding talent to help companies compete, transform, and grow.”

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